No points bombs this week, so here's the Welsh "sex bomb" himself, Tom Jones, to sing a little ditty introducing this post.
Curt asked in his comments on my last submission whether I was going to be painting up any beasties native to the region for my Mexicagrave project. Well, here are some pussycats especially for him.
First up, four Jaguars. Well, Jaguar warriors. These were among the elite of the Aztec soldiers, having captured at least four enemies in battle. If the Aztec was a commoner, they entered the ranks of the nobility. In return for that, they became full-time soldiers and acted as the cities' guards and police as well as being sent out to accompany merchants on trade missions.
It seems that these virile young men have attracted the attention of a pair of cougars. Not predatory older women with a fancy for young men, but the feline variety. Also known as pumas or mountain lions. They might be big cats, but they aren't "big cats" as they can't roar.
And a group shot:
I'm not entirely happy with the jaguar suits. The spotted look was achieved by adding sepia washes to fill the dimples in the texture in between each layer of the main skin colour. I am presuming that the texture was intended to represent feathered suits rather than animal skin. I might go back and repaint the suits to add larger spots of brown similar to those on the helmets.
The Jaguar warriors are from The Assault Group; the pumas are from Wargames Foundry. I make that 30 points for this entry.
Very, very nice Tamsin! You're doing a marvelous job with this 'Mexicagrave' project. The warriors' cloth armour is excellent (with their vibrant shields) and the herb groundwork is truly inspired. I'm especially delighted to see some local fauna added to your collection - the cougars are brilliant. When will we see a few Pumas and perhaps a huge snake? :)
These will give you a base of 30 points but I'm adding a couple more for the shields. Great work!
Nice stuff Tamsin. Love the colour of the puma's coats.
ReplyDeleteCheers Curt! Cougars and pumas are the same thing, just different names. Do you mean "when will we see a few jaguars? Probably not during this Challenge I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I should learn to take the time to read. My bad.
DeleteI love the creative twist you've put on this game. I'm really enjoying the progress you are making on it.
ReplyDeleteI love the creative twist you've put on this game. I'm really enjoying the progress you are making on it.
ReplyDeleteVery nice Tamsin...
ReplyDeletewell done Tamsin! the shields are top, the jaguar suits are very nice, the helmets are really cool and give a good contrast.
ReplyDeleteWell done Tamsin, the Halloween costumes look great. And this are wonderful cougars
ReplyDeleteOutstanding! This is such a great project.
ReplyDeleteLovely work on the Jaguar Knights, looking forward to more of this project.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a very cool project Tamsin - talk about a period/setting that I don't know anything about, so it's very neat to see these!
ReplyDeleteThat is excellent work Tamsin!
ReplyDeleteI love the Puma's coats as well, nice light colour and well blended. They're all so cute as buttons.
ReplyDeleteI love that stalking puma!
ReplyDeleteProbably the best frostgrave alternative universe I can imagine. Both the 2 and 4 leg cats are "cool for cats". Who does not love squeeze! (Drat the song is now in my head!)
ReplyDeleteThe big cats are lovely and I see what you mean about the jaguar warriors, both the suits and hats are very effective, but when seen together they'd need to either be painted or from different animals.
ReplyDeleteVery nice work, Tamsin! I like the colors on the Warriors headgear and sheilds, the kitties look nice and fluffy too! ;)
ReplyDelete@ Curt - cheers! Glad you like this project; it's fun putting everything together for it :)
ReplyDelete@ Millsy - thanks! the pumas did come out rather nicely :)
@ Aaron - cheers! I simply didn't fancy all that snow and ice, so went for something warmer. IT was either going to be this setting or the desert (I'd had a thought of doing something in the Orient but abandoned it).
@ DaveD - thanks! :)
@ Gilles - glad you like them :)
@ Peter - thanks! :)
@ Jonathan - cheers! :)
@ Evan - thanks! :)
@ Greg - it's been great fun reading up on them and painting the figures. It's just so different to all the other stuff I've done :)
@ Francis - cheers! :)
@ Anne - thanks! I enjoyed painting them and they came out very well. I think I used as many layers of highlighting as the 15 Phil does for buttons on his figures! ;)
@ Barks - the cats were awesome sculpts to work with :)
@ Clint - thanks! "Who doesn't like Squeeze?", errmm, David Cameron after they changed the lyrics to rip into him on the Andrew Marr show the other week :)
@ Jamie - cheers! It seems that my sources may not have been entirely accurate. I've found a free online "Codex Mendoza" with translations, and it would appear from the pages listing the tribute from various client towns/cities that the "jaguar" suits were in fact the feather type and could be white, yellow, blue or red with black/dark brown spots. I think I'll have to go back and repaint the suits (and maybe, very carefully) the helmets :)
@ David B - cheers! They are gorgeous puddy-cats, aren't they? :)